All Over Albany

A double feature, directed and choreographed by Nicole Beutler, at EMPAC tonight

No worries -- the rest of the weekend will look and feel more like spring.

And there's plenty to do.

The list for this week is after the jump. Got other plans? We'd love to hear about them.

Whatever you're doing, have a fantastic weekend.

1st Friday
Already? Yep. Shops and galleries are open late all over Albany. Craig Shufelt's "The Reflections Series - Empire State Cars" show is at The Albany Barn's headquarters on North Swan Street in Arbor Hill. Shadi Khadivi's time lapse photography installation will be screened in the window of Crisan, and it's the last weekend to catch Sebastien Barre's show at The Spectrum. Afterward there's The Capital Swing Dance at 8 at the Albany Elks Lodge $15/$10 and and an after-party at Marketplace Gallery. Here's the full rundown with a map.

Roller derby x2
There's a roller derby double header at the Washington Avenue Armory Saturday night. The Albany All Stars take on the women of the Central New York Roller Derby. But first up is the Capital District Men's Roller Derby in its first-ever bout -- The Capital District Trauma Authority will take on the Utica Quadfathers. Music by Slick Fitty. $12, $4 kids under 12. Doors open at 5 and the first bout starts at 6.

Jewish Food Festival
Sample pastrami, blintzes, matzoh ball soup, rugelach and more --then wash it all down with an egg cream. Congregation Gates of Heaven is holding their annual Jewish Food Festival in Schenectady this Sunday from 12-4. Unlimited samples for $15. Say hi to Leah the Nosher and Daniel B while you're there. They'll have a table serving a variety of challahs with gourmet butters.

EMPAC Double Feature
EMPAC is offering two performances tonight that were directed and choreographed by Nicole Beutler. The first is a rock song cycle examining the last lines of women protagonists through the history of theater. The second examines patterns and parallel realities. You can see them individually for $15 each, or take in a double feature for $20.

Graham Parker: The Confidence Man
This collection of film and video work made by NYC artist Graham Parker while he was in residence at EMPAC examines deception or "the concealing of one set of operations behind the appearance of another" -- from spam to hacked ATM machines. Free. Noon-6 pm Friday and Saturday. (If you miss it this weekend, you can see it through April 30.) While you're at EMPAC check out the MindBox. It's described as a "viewer-driven dance video and music triptych." Created by a media artist and a choreographer, it's a modified one-armed bandit slot machine that lets viewers use levers and buttons to remix the moves of a beatboxing character. It's there until Monday.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Schenectady Civic Theater presents a staged reading of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Steve Martin's account of a fictional meeting between Picasso and Einstein. Sunday at 2:30. Free.

+ Littlefoot is playing the Dovecote in Albany tonight with Rosary Beard, the collaboration between Alta Mira's Hunter Sagehorn and Matthew Loiacono's Matthew Loiacono. Also up: Team Grease and Mike A. 7 pm

Piano Jazz Summit
Three generations of solo virtuoso jazz pianists meet to jam at Proctors. Cedar Walton is a National Endowment for the Arts "Jazz Master", the NYT called Jacky Terrasson "one of 30 artists under the age of 30 most likely to make an impact on American culture in the next 30 years." Hiromi Uehara is a jazz virtuoso known for pushing the edges of the genre. $20, $30,$40. 8pm

Hockey
The Albany Devils play at home against Charlotte on Saturday at 7 and Binghamton on Sunday at 4.

Garden workshops
Yes, it snowed today. But it won't be long until garden season. Hewitt's is holding a clinic on how to start a vegetable garden. Saturday at 11 at their Clifton Park location on Route 9.

Comments

On Monday evening, the Academies of the Albany Berkshire Ballet will be performing at the SUNY Performing Arts Center. They'll be dancing Les Sylphides and the Sorceror's Apprentice. Monday, April 4, 7 p.m. -- more information by calling 518-426-0660.

Great introduction to ballet, especially if you have children who may be interested in dance.

"The scene is a state-run institution, whose inmates are kept behind locked gates and referred to only by numbers. But to find the epitome of insanity in this mysterious establishment, one need look no further than its administrators, led by the superintendent Roote and his questionable associates. The mysterious death of one patient and an equally surprising birth by another bring matters at this dysfunctional institution to a head. This “comedy of menace” was revised from an early work and directed by Pinter himself in 1980."

"The Navy Band Sea Chanters is the United States Navy's official chorus. The ensemble performs a variety of music ranging from traditional choral music, including sea chanteys and patriotic fare, to opera, Broadway, and contemporary music. Under the leadership of Senior Chief Musician Georgina L. Todd, the Sea Chanters perform for the public throughout the United States. At home in Washington, D.C., they perform for the President, Vice President and numerous congressional, military and foreign dignitaries. In 1956, Lt. Harold Fultz, then the band's assistant leader, organized a group from the Navy School of Music to sing chanteys and patriotic songs for the State of the Nation dinner. An immediate success, Admiral Arleigh Burke, then Chief of Naval Operations, transferred them to the Navy Band, named them the Sea Chanters and tasked this all-male chorus with perpetuating the songs of the sea. In 1980, the group added women to their ranks and expanded their repertoire to include everything from Brahms to Broadway."

I'll be experiencing the Aquanetted, skinny-tied fabulosity of "Off the Record" -- a 60s futurist trio -- downstairs in the Grille Room of the University Club. The show is free and open to all -- just a block east of Lark on Washington at Dove Street! 8 - 10 pm!

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Recent Comments

I grew up in the Utica area and moved out here in 1998. It really is funny how different the cultures are less than 100 miles away.
It's more laid back in the Utica/Syracuse area, and the culture is much more "country" whereas Albany and a lot of the are around it is much more fast paced and has more of a NYC influence. Both are nice places to live, but definitely different vibes.